New cures are constantly being discovered. That can be a good thing and a bad thing. For example, you might look at encouraging new research in the arena of curing hearing loss and you figure you don’t really have to be all that careful. You’ll feel like they will likely have a cure for deafness by the time you will exhibit any symptoms of hearing loss.
That’s not a smart idea. Obviously, safeguarding your hearing now while it’s still healthy would be the wiser choice. There is some amazing research emerging which is revealing some amazing strides toward effectively treating hearing loss.
It isn’t any fun to lose your hearing
Hearing loss is just something that occurs. It’s not necessarily because of something you did wrong. It’s just part of getting older. But there are some clear drawbacks to dealing with hearing loss. Not only can you hear less, but the condition can impact your social life, your mental health, and your overall wellness. Untreated hearing loss can even result in an increased risk of depression and dementia. Lots of research exists that reveals a link between social isolation and untreated hearing loss.
Hearing loss is, generally speaking, a degenerative and chronic situation. This means that there isn’t any cure and, over time, it’ll get worse. This doesn’t pertain to every type of hearing loss but we’ll get to that soon. Even though there is no cure, though, that doesn’t mean it can’t be treated.
We can help you protect your levels of hearing and slow down the progression of hearing loss. Hearing aids are often the form of treatment that will be most ideal for most kinds of hearing loss. So there are treatments for most people but there’s no cure. And those treatments can do a lot of good when it comes to improving your quality of life.
Hearing loss comes in two main kinds
There are differences in kinds of hearing loss. Hearing loss comes in two principal categories. One can be cured, the other can be managed. Here’s how it breaks down:
- Conductive hearing loss: When the ear canal gets obstructed by something, you get this type of hearing loss. Possibly it’s a clump of earwax (a little gross, but it happens). Perhaps, an ear infection is causing swelling. When something is obstructing your ear canals, whatever it might be, sound waves won’t be capable of getting to your inner ear. This type of hearing loss will be cured when the cause of the obstruction is eliminated.
- Sensorineural hearing loss: This is the more permanent form of hearing loss. Vibrations in the air are sensed by tiny hairs in your ears called stereocilia. These vibrations can be translated to sound by your brain. Regrettably, these hairs are damaged as you go through life, typically by exceedingly loud sounds. And once they are damaged, the hairs no longer function. This reduces your ability to hear. There’s currently no way to heal these hairs, and your body doesn’t create new ones naturally. When you lose them, it’s forever.
Sensorineural hearing loss treatments
Sensorineural hearing loss may be irreversible but that doesn’t mean it can’t be treated. Given your loss of hearing, letting you hear as much as possible is the goal of treatment. Keeping you functioning as independently as possible, enhancing your situational awareness, and allowing you to hear conversations is the goal.
So, what are these treatment methods? Here are some common treatments.
Hearing aids
Hearing aids are probably the single most prevalent way of managing hearing loss. Hearing aids can be individually tuned to your particular hearing needs, so they’re especially useful. During the course of your day, a hearing aid will help you hear conversations and interact with people better. Many of the symptoms of social isolation can be prevented by using hearing aids (and the risk of depression and dementia as a result).
There are lots of different styles of hearing aid to choose from and they have become a lot more common. In order to figure out which model is suited to your taste and degree of hearing loss, you’ll have to come see us for a consultation.
Cochlear implants
Sometimes, it will be necessary to bypass the ears entirely if hearing loss is total. That’s what a cochlear implant does. This device is surgically inserted into the ear. This device directly transmits sound, which it has translated into electrical energy, to your cochlear nerve. Your brain then interprets those signals as sound.
When a person has a condition called deafness, or total hearing loss, cochlear implants are sometimes used. So there will still be treatment options even if you have completely lost your hearing.
Novel advances
New novel ways of treating hearing loss are always being researched by scientists.
These new advances are often aimed at “curing” hearing loss in ways that have previously proven impossible. Some of these advances include:
- Stem cell therapies: These therapies utilize stem cells from your own body. The concept is that new stereocilia can be created by these stem cells (those tiny hairs inside of your ears). It’s not likely that we will have prescription gene therapy for a while, but for now, studies with animals are showing promise.
- Progenitor cell activation: So, stem cells in your ear initiate the generation of stereocilia. Once the stereocilia develop, the stem cells become inactive, and they are then referred to as progenitor cells. These new therapies are stimulating the stereocilia to regrow by reactivating the progenitor cells. Encouraging outcomes for these new therapies have come from early human trials. Most patients noticed a significant improvement in their ability to hear and understand speech. How long it will be before these therapies are widely available, however, isn’t known.
- GFI1 Protein: There’s a protein which has been identified by researchers that is crucial for the regrowth of stereocilia. Researchers are hoping that they can get a clearer idea of how to get these stereocilia to grow back by recognizing this protein. Again, this is one of those therapies that’s more in the “drawing board” stage than the “widely available” phase.
Stay in the moment – address your hearing loss now
There’s a great deal of promise in these innovations. But let’s not forget that none of them are available to the public at this point. Which means that it’s wise to live in the here and now. Be proactive about safeguarding your hearing.
A miracle cure isn’t likely to be coming soon, so if you’re coping with hearing loss, call us today to schedule your hearing assessment.
References
https://hsci.harvard.edu/major-step-toward-treatment-leading-form-hearing-loss
https://news.mit.edu/2022/frequency-therapeutics-hearing-regeneration-0329
